THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Hard-scrabble, the music of American Restless channels the force of post-hardcore, the feral-energy of riff-heavy garage rock, and the swagger of rockabilly, earning the trio subgenre monikers like Spaghetti-Midwestern and Psych-A-Billy, but the group would simply describe their sounds as Rust Belt Rock and Roll.
Originally from Racine, WI, the band’s hometown is best known for its industrial legacy and stiff blue collars. But its proximity to Milwaukee and Chicago made it rife with blues, metal, and DIY punk music — all of which shape the sonic DNA of the band. Though currently based in Michigan and Colorado, it is these very roots that endure to define the band.
With their debut album, Rust Belt Rock and Roll, guitarist Noah Lekas and bassist Ian Grant are joined by fellow Racine expat and former Reverend Horton Heat alumni, Arjuna “RJ” Contreras, marking the first time the three old friends converge on one LP.
While this is the band’s first album, the story of American Restless started nearly 15 years ago during the crash of 2008. Low on employment opportunities and high on inspiration, Lekas spent a long winter in East Nashville writing the earliest sketches of what would become American Restless.
After nearly 50 shows in the summer of 2009, American Restless went on unofficial hiatus. Collaborations, and intermittent one-offs ensued, but the next decade found Lekas writing and performing with a variety of acts in New York City and San Diego while Grant logged well over 100 gigs a year in the Midwest. With the publication of Lekas’ first book Saturday Night Sage and subsequent sonic poetry collaboration with psych-legends Howlin’ Rain, Sounds from the Shadow Factory, American Restless were little more than an ongoing conversation between old friends — until the pandemic and subsequent shutdown landed the band back in the studio.
The old friends would first collaborate on a track called Listening to Bob Dylan and Waiting for the World to End, a detuned talking-blues number brought to life through an animated video by award-winning director Shelby Baldock. Then, on Dec. 18, 2021, another Racine expat, Gerald “GM3” Meerschaert walked to the cage for UFC Fight Night to an early demo version of Cadillac Head, officially kicking the band and a new record in motion.
Recording with The Silent Comedy’s Jeremiah Zimmerman in East Nashville — less than a mile from where Lekas originally hauled up in 2008 — the resulting album puts the band’s roots on full display with 10 songs in 28 breakneck minutes. Simultaneously a nod to proto-punk and post-punk, the collection combines the freewheeling poetry of the beats, the anti-nostalgia of punk, heavy psych fuzz , and slap-echo laden post-war blues, earning comparisons like Black Sabbath meets Stray Cats and early ZZ Top mixed with The Clash. One thing for sure, it is American music — and it’s as restless as ever.”
